Oven baked panko drumsticks (Bonus! Corn quenelles)

I have experimented with oven baked chicken but most of it has been 50% successful and mostly har jeong gai or tonkatsu. The usual result is that the batter comes out pastey or flourey, the colour is uneven, or the chicken is tough and dry. I've often used wings so that the cooking time isn't so long to dry out the chicken. So far, my experiments have been more about method rather than looks, to find something that is easy to prepare, little clean up, and tasty although that mostly had to do with finding the authentic har jeong gai taste. This recipe focuses on the texture i.e. the batter and tenderness of the chicken.

I came across 3 recipes:
1. Chicken experiment: https://www.thereciperebel.com/great-oven-fried-chicken-experiment/
This one is an experiment in itself which tries 4 different methods for different crunch and taste but uses chicken fillet so not quite what I'm looking for, but a great reference post nonetheless.
2. Oven baked Korean fried chicken: https://girlinthelittleredkitchen.com/2015/04/oven-baked-korean-fried-chicken/
This one gave me the idea to mix different types of breading i.e. flour followed by breadcrumbs and then panko. It starts with high temp to crisp up and then turns down to cook.
3. Buffalo wings: https://www.recipetineats.com/truly-crispy-oven-baked-buffalo-wings-my-wings-cookbook/
This one uses baking powder so that the batter is more flour and less breading. The method uses low temp followed by high to crisp up. However, I have found this dries out the chicken, which might be ok if wings are used as the recipe does.

I decided to start with high temp followed by low to cook it thoroughly and this time tried potato rather tapioca, corn and normal flour where I've not had good results, that is, pastey. An idea also struck me to add shredded cheese and that improved the taste and also batter crunch!

Ingredients
1.2 kg chicken drumsticks
3 cups panko
1 cup potato flour
⅓ cup shredded cheese (parmesan or cheddar)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp dried sage, oregano, or thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Dry the chicken with kitchen paper before starting. Add salt and pepper to the egg wash, flour, and panko and mix well. Add oregano to the egg and mix well. Add the shredded cheese to the panko and mix well.
2. Set up the breading station. I find that using a flat slightly rimmed plate works best, and a ziplock bag for flour makes for easy clean up because otherwise the flour flies everywhere (potato, tapioca, and corn flour is very light compared to normal flour).
3. Coat the chicken in the egg wash and drain as much of the excess as much as possible. This is an important step otherwise it makes the dry ingredients claggy.
4. Coat with flour but ensure that it's well coated. Shake off the excess and ensure this is again done well to avoid turning the egg claggy.
5. Once again, dip in egg wash and coat well, even the 'drum' part of the drumstick. Drain off excess.
6. Finally, dip in the panko and pat down so that the panko really sticks on.
7. Place on a wire rack over a baking tray to catch the drippings. I don't turn in the oven because of the rack too.
8. Bake at 220 deg C for 15 minutes. Turn down to 180 and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes until cooked.

Recipe feedback
I was pretty impressed. The chicken was tender and moist! The batter was crunchy. The potato flour really made a difference. The batter is more crunchy than crispy but definitely a much better texture than whatever I've done so far.

Bonus recipe
I had flour, egg wash, and panko left over so added a can of creamed corn in and mixed it up. I formed corn quenelles and baked them off. I put them in after turning down the temp to 180 deg C so baked for 30 to 35 minutes. They weren't really brown so next time, I might save a bit of the panko and coat the quenelles with that.

Tau suan with water chestnut

Idea from MyKitchen101 https://mykitchen101en.com/water-chestnut-lek-tau-suan-split-mung-bean-dessert-with-youtiao/

I have previously experimented with normal Tau suan and also with Gula melaka tau suan but this was the recipe that started it all.

Mostly the same recipe but slight improvement in method.

Ingredients
500g mung bean
1 small can of water chestnut, chopped
250g rock sugar (more or less depending on taste)
10 cups of water
7 pandan leaves, knotted
10 tbsp water + 5 tbsp tapioca or sweet potato starch or potato starch

Method
1. Rinse the mung bean until the water runs clear. Leave to dry in a colander.
2. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. (I used my rice cooker). Throw in the knotted pandan leaves. Pour the mung bean onto a steamer basket and steam for 3 minutes. Switch off and leave to to steam in the residual heat for 5 minutes.
3. Take out the steam basket and set aside. Remove the pandan leaves. Top up the water to 10 cups and the sugar. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the mung bean and cook for about 3 minutes or more (to your liking). I like the beans to be whole and still have a bit of bite. Stir in the chopped water chestnut.
5. Mix up the starch slurry and while the water is simmering, dribble in the slurry. Stir quickly as it comes back up to a boil and turn off once it has come to a boil.
6. Serve with cruellers.

Finally the right timing, my beans are still whole!

Recipe feedback
I used potato starch and the next day after refrigeration, it clumped together and was no longer flowy. A few days after that, it exuded water. I now understand why people use sweet potato starch which keeps it flowy.

No-bake Chocolate mousse gradient cheesecake

From the first attempt which was the no-bake choc mousse ripple cheesecake, I decided to perfect my technique. I found the proportions in this first version excessive (e.g. 520g of double cream) which is what happens when you use maths. I decided to go with my gut feel and also what's available in the supermarket (e.g., I can buy a 250ml double cream bottle but would have to buy a large 500ml double cream and add 20g from a new packet). The measuring was also too fiddly and while I'm a perfectionist, I can live with less than equi-distant circles.



Ingredients (8 inch round tin)
15 ginger snap biscuits or similar sweet biscuit
2*250g blocks of Philly cream cheese, softened + 4 tbsp powered sugar
75g butter, softened
250ml double cream + 3 tbsp powdered sugar
cold 350ml milk + 4 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp gelatine powder
5 tbsp cocoa powder

Method
1. In a food processor, process the biscuits until a fine crumb forms. Add the butter and chop till it forms the texture of wet sand.
2. To make the cheesecake base, line the bottom of a 8 inch springform tin with parchment. Oil the sides of the tin with butter. Pour in the sandy crumbs and press down with a spatula or the bottom of a glass. Press it in until the layer is flat. Leave in the fridge to firm up.
3. Sprinkle the gelatine powder onto the surface of the cold milk and leave it to bloom.
4. After about 5 minutes, microwave the milk for a minute (until warm to the touch) and whisk in the gelatine until no lumps remain.
5. In a clean food processor bowl, beat the philly with the powdered sugar until smooth. Pour in the milk and pulse until smooth. Pour into a big mixing bowl.
6. In the food processor bowl, beat the double cream with the powdered sugar until textured but not yet stiff. Pour into the cheese mixture and fold in. Set aside.
7. In a smaller mixing bowl, add a few tbsp of the batter and 3 tbsp of cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth and pour in more batter (total should be less than ⅓ of the total batter) until you attain a dark chocolate colour.
8. In a medium mixing bowl, repeat the method with the 2 tbsp of cocoa powder. Pour in the batter, this should be about half of the remaining batter. You would be left with the remaining half of the batter that has no cocoa (i.e. cream colour) in the big bowl. Store the big and medium bowls in the fridge for about 5 minutes to firm up slightly, otherwise the batter is too runny and the pattern will not be distinct.
9. Take the cheesecake base out from the fridge. Pour in the batter from the big bowl onto the base. Return to the fridge to chill for 5 minutes.

Looking much neater than my first attemp. Note how thick the batter in the centre is

10. Carefully pour the batter from the medium bowl from a height (5cm) onto the centre of the colour. This allows the batter to spread and fill slowly.
11. Pour in the final darkest colour in the small bowl. This batter is slightly thicker due to the high concentration of cocoa powder, so ladle it to fill the centre but do so slowly and carefully. Carefully use a palette knife to smoothen the top.
12. Drop the cake tin from a height of 5 cm to dispel big bubbles. If desired, swirl the colours with a palette knife.

After swirling

13. Return to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours until firm. To unmould, run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen from the side. (I forgot and the cake tore trying trying to dislodge itself from the tin!) To serve, use a cold knife and wipe the blade with a damp cloth after each cut.

Sik hye 식혜

Sources
1. https://mykoreankitchen.com/sikhye/ : Most comprehensive recipe, describes using the course malt barley, the powder, and the teabag
2. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sikhye: I mostly used this method but it also describes making it a slushie

Generally, the recipes are pretty aligned. The difference between these two and other recipes is whether they use the course malt barley or the powdered type. While Maangchi uses the powder, Korean Kitchen thinks that the powdered type doesn't help the rice grains to float to the surface. However, I used the powder and didn't have a problem so I think it's because Korean Kitchen left the powder in a cheesecloth.

Ingredients
1 cup malted barley
18 cups of water
1 cup of cooked rice (short grain or glutinous rice)
1 cup sugar
pine nuts and red dates for garnishing (optional)

Method
1. Add the water to the malted barley and stir well. Soak the malted barley 2 to 3 hours in a large bowl and let the sediment settle. The clear water should have separated to the top.
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice with slightly less water so that it's a bit undercooked.
3. Once the rice is cooked, carefully strain the malted barley water with the help of a cheesecloth, into the rice. The sediment should have settled at the bottom. Be careful not to stir up the sediment at the bottom.
4. With the sediment, pour in the remaining 4 cups of water and leave to steep.
5. Leave to ferment in the rice cooker using the Keep Warm function at between 55 to 60 deg C. After 4 hours, check to see if a dozen or so rice grains have floated to the top. If they have, sik hye is ready. It only took me 3 hours. If grains haven't, leave it to ferment for another hour.
6. Once the grains has floated, again carefully pour the malted barley water into the pot, once again, with the help of the cheesecloth. Throw away the sediment.
7. Bring the sik hye to a boil and add the 1 cup of sugar to dissolve. Skim off the foam and boil for 10 minutes.
8. Once finished boiling, leave to cool. Strain off the rice grains and wash it in cold water to wash off the starch. Keep the rice grains in a separate air tight container with some cold water. If the grains are left in the sik hye, the whole liquid turns grey.
10. Strain off the sik hye into a glass bottle.
11. Serve hot or chilled in a bowl, topped with red date and pine nuts if using, and about two tablespoons of rice grains.
12. Keep the rice grains and sik hye refrigerated for up to a week. Once it goes sour, it's time to throw it away.

Malted barley soaking

Floating rice grains!

Sik hye with rice grains and topped with red date

Recipe feedback
The grains delighted me because they felt so light on the tongue. I was expecting porridge-type of stodgey rice but the grains here were light and fluffy!

Black forest swiss roll

I adapted from the coffee swiss roll by Yochana and my adaptation was spot on!

Ingredients
5 eggs, at room temperature
90g sugar (do not reduce this amount)
30g cocoa powder
70g plain flour
pinch of salt
65g corn oil or melted butter (I use oil)

Filling
150ml double cream
¼ cup icing sugar (do not reduce this amount)
1 cup drained canned and pitted cherries

Topping
100ml double cream
4 tbsp icing sugar
Drained cherries for deco

The toppings cover the cracks in the cake

Method
1. Take out the eggs and bring them to room temperature.
2. Prepare the pan by lining it with parchment.
3. Beat the eggs with sugar until pale and foamy, until the ribbon stage. It should triple in volume.
4. Add the oil in batches and also mix until incorporated.
5. Fold in sifted cocoa powder, flour, and salt.
6. Pour into the pan and flatten with spatula. Ensure that fills the corners of the pan. Drop from a height to dispel the bubbles.
7. Bake at 180 deg C for 18 to 20 minutes until the top springs back when touched.
8. Once out of the oven, immediately take the cake out of the tin and let it cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

The top. The skin got stuck to the paper and peeled off. Oh no!

9. Place a clean baking paper on another larger baking tray. Invert the cake onto the baking tray and remove the backing of the cake. Let it cool further on a wire rack.
10. Once cool enough to handle (about 5 minutes), roll the cake up as tight as you can (but be careful not to crack the cake!) using the baking paper to assist. Cover with a cloth and leave to cool completely.
11. While waiting for the cake to cool, beat the double cream with the icing sugar until stiff peaks.

Cracks on the side from being very heavy handed with the cake

13. When the cake is completely cool, unroll it. Cut off 1.5 cm at a diagonal on one of the short ends. This will help the cake to form a nice seam. Spread on the cream thinly with an offset spatula. Place the drained cherries to only the first quarter of the cake (the side you begin rolling). If you put too much fruit, it becomes very hard to roll. Re-roll the cake. Make sure that it is resting on the seam.

Decorated

14. Wrap the cake in the baking paper and then wrap over with cling film. Let it cool and rest in the fridge on its seam, for a minimum of 1 hour or best overnight.

Everything looks nice after a clean up!

15. While chilling, make the topping. Just before serving, pour on the whipping cream for the topping and decorate with cherries. Serve immediately!

Recipe feedback

- Considering I adapted this recipe from the coffee swiss roll, it was great! It was very moist but a bit crumbly and this showed when I tried to roll it. The top skin of the cake stuck to the parchment when I had inverted it onto the baking try to remove the backing. I had to turn it back so that the bottom of the cake was showing on the outside.

- I had forgotten to add sugar to the filling cream and it would have gone really well against the sourness of the cherries. But overall, satisfied!

Updated: This cherry swiss roll has an interesting way of placing the cherries to roll up.
https://www.anncoojournal.com/cherry-swiss-roll-cake/?fbclid=IwAR1c2Bn5ROhI8EZbTWM4Dq4Thj1QgWWgCnMi0BncgteVN3QQwvQ_z30LseY

Matcha cheesecake

I intended to make a matcha chocolate cheesecake with double cream, 3 eggs, and no flour in a 28 inch tin but unfortunately, my cream had gone bad. I had to quickly switch recipes and found one that also uses 1 packet (250g) of cream cheese but needed cake flour and 6 eggs. That was alright, I had these ready.

Source: https://www.craftpassion.com/matcha-japanese-cheesecake/2/

I adapted the method based on what I had already done halfway and the temperature is indeterminate because I accidentally left the oven on during the portion where the oven door was open.

Ingredients (for 8 inch tin)
1 block (250g) cream cheese, room temp
6 eggs, separated
140g sugar
100ml milk
60g butter
60g cake flour
8g corn flour
12g matcha powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp vinegar or lemon juice

Method
1. Line a 8" tin with parchment. Butter the sides. Wrap the outside of the tin with double layer of foil so that water does not seep in. Meanwhile, prepare a larger baking tin (large enough to fit the cake tin).
2. Melt the cream cheese over a bain marie. Add egg yolks and beat with whisk until smooth.
3. Add half the sugar and whisk. Add the salt and combine.
4. Place the milk and butter in the microwave and microwave until the butter has melted. Add to the batter and combine.
5. Sift together the cake flour, corn flour, and matcha. Pour into the batter in batches and fold.
6. In an extremely clean bowl, beat the egg whites. Add the sugar in batches and beat. Add the vinegar and beat. Beat until stiff peaks.
7. Mix the batter with ⅓ of the meringue. Add the next third and fold in. Finally, pour the batter into the bowl with the remaining third of the meringue and carefully fold in so as not to knock out the air.
8. Pour into the cake tin and drop on the counter top to dispel the big bubbles. Use a spatula to make slashes to dispel more bubbles.
9. Place in the baking tin and pour in just boiled water so that it comes ⅔ up the side of the cake tin.
10. Bake for 160 deg C for 45 mins, then 140 for 45 minutes. Switch off and leave to cool in the oven with door open for 30 minutes.
11. Remove to countertop and drop from a height of 10cm (protect your counter top of course!). This prevents it from shrinking too much. As it cools, it will shrink away from the sides. Leave to cool completely, preferably overnight in the fridge.

Hasn't shrunk that much after cooling for half hour on countertop

12. To unmould the cake, use a spatula to go round the sides to release. Cut with a clean knife and to get really cleanly cut slices, wipe after each cut.

A bit dense but at least not eggy tasting

Recipe feedback

- My temperature control was really bad because I was alternating between fan forced and non-fan forced. I realised that with heating element (non-fan forced) only, the temp dropped 20 deg very quickly and the guage was off by at least 20 deg. So even though I started at 160 deg C, it quickly dipped to 130 or when I switched on the fan, it rose to 170. After I switched off the oven (or thought I did), there was no jiggle left. I and left the door open but had in fact left the heater on so the temp dropped from 160 to 130 in the 45 mins that the door was open. 

- Whatever the case may be, it seems that the initial hot air of 160 is needed to both brown the cake and dry up the top, but also to create the lift. The 140 deg C is then needed to dry the inside and cook through. Thus, a half-half timing that I've incorporated above seems for a 8" cake.

- Matcha is very difficult to work with. It either creates a very dry cake or very dense without much lift. Thus this cake was very dense and I don't know if it's because of the matcha or because my eggs weren't fresh enough. I had beaten still stiff peaks but it didn't seem to have helped.

Kueh dadar (Pandan pancake with coconut filling)

I had some leftover coconut from the last recipe and no idea what to do with it. Decided to try out these recipes:

1. https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/mini-kueh-dadar-rolled-coconut-crepes/ : for the proportions and use of tapioca starch in the batter
2. https://www.asianfoodchannel.com/en/recipes/nyonya-kuih-dadar  : how to extract pandan juice
https://www.shiokmanrecipes.com/2016/11/25/kueh-dadar-kuih-ketayap/ : video and tips

Ingredients (makes 8)
Inti (coconut filling)
200g dried coconut shreds, unsweetened
100g palm sugar or gula melaka
2 pandan leaves
1 tbsp water
pinch of salt

Crepe
200g flour (1 cup + 5 tbsp)
10 pandan leaves
250 ml coconut milk
150 ml water
1 egg
1 tsp tapioca starch
1 tsp oil
pinch salt

Method
Filling
1. Shave up the gula. Add the water into the pan and dissolve the sugar over low heat.
2. Add the knotted pandan leaves and stir. Remove the pandan leaves.
3. Add the coconut and stir until all the sugar syrup has been absorbed.

Crepe
1. To prepare the pandan juice, blend the pandan leaves in 150ml of water. Line a sieve with a cheese cloth and pour in the blended pulp. Squeeze out 150ml of juice. Set aside.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl add the salt. Stir and create a well in the centre.
3. Pour in the santan and mix until no lumps remain. Pour in the pandan juice and mix. Add the oil and mix.
4. Pour on 100 ml of batter and pour in the centre of the pan from a height of about 10cm above the pan. Rotate to swirl the batter as thinly as you can. Keep the heat low so as not to brown the crepe. Cook until edges start to curl. Remove (there is no need to cook the other side but it should be dry). Repeat until all the filling has been used up.
5. Depending on the size of your crepe, use about 2 tbsp of filling per crepe. Fold

Coconut candy

Have saved this recipe in my bookmarks for at least 2 years now but never got down to making it. After positive endorsement of the RotiNRice recipe by my cousin, I decided to try it.

Sources: Recipe ingredients based on https://www.rotinrice.com/coconut-candy/ but method modified from http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2010/01/malaysian-coconut-candy.html

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter
2 ⅔ C (227g) coconut dried coconut shreds (not dessicated coconut)
½C sugar (can reduce by ½ C cos too sweet)
½C condensed milk
½C milk
8 - 10 drops of red food coloring
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Grease a baking tray (mine is 11 by 13 inches). Line with waxed baking paper. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a non-stick pan.
3. Mix all the ingredients together. It will be very watery.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and maintain a simmer. Stir continually. It will take about 25 minutes.

After 25 mins

5. The coconut mixture will turn matt instead of glossy. It will leave the side the pan and leave it clean. To test, roll a ball of the mixture and drop into a bowl of water. If it doesn't disintegrate, it's ready.

Sadly my Cusiena measuring cup fell on the floor and broke! :(

6. Pack into a pan (mine is 11 by 13 inches). Cover with a wax paper and press down to flatten using your hand.

7.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Score into pieces with a well-greased pizza cutter. Once completely cool, lift out of pan only a chopping board and and cut completely.

Sago pudding

As a child, I'd often help my mother to make this recipe. However, I've forgotten the recipe, which made it very traumatic for me because I so desperately wanted to recreate that taste and thus those feelings of home, mother, and a secure childhood.

I did try it once in recent times and it turned out to be a stodgey mess. Until I came across these tips, that is: https://www.theburningkitchen.com/how-not-to-cook-sago-3-common-mistakes-people-make/

So here's my redo of this childhood favourite adapted for my pots and requirements.

Ingredients
250g small sago pearls
large pot of boiling water
300g (1 block) of gula melaka, shaved and and made into a syrup
1 can of coconut milk (use fresh if you have it!)
7 to 10 pandan leaves.
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Following the tips from Burning Kitchen, bring a pot of water to a boil. Knot the pandan leaves and boil for 10 minutes until the fragrance emerges.
2. Pour in the sago pearls (do not soak nor wash beforehand!). Stir and keep stirring. Turn down the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 12 minutes, with lid slightly ajar.
3. The centre will still have a tiny dot of white. Turn off the flame and cover. Leave to steep for 20 minutes. The residual heat will continue to cook until the tiny dot of white turns clear.
4. Strain in a strainer and rinse in tap water until the sago is no longer hot.
5. Spoon into a mould where it coagulates into a pudding. Leave to cool until no longer hot and chill in the fridge.
6. Serve with gula mela syrup (cooked with pandan leaf) and coconut milk which has a pinch of salt added.

Cake-like matcha madeleines

I first used this recipe and while the taste was ok, the texture wasn't as enjoyable as another method that I used for earl grey madeleines. Therefore I am now combining both recipes: the ingredients of the first and the method of the second.

Ingredients (makes 20)
113g butter, melted and brought to room temp + 2 tbsp melted butter for coating (28g)
⅔ C sugar (133g; can be reduced to 130g)
1 C flour (120g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp matcha powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp milk, at room temp
2 large eggs, at room temp


Method
1) Bring out the eggs and milk and let them come to room temp. Melt the butter and allow to cool down to room temp. 
2) Combine the sugar and egg and whisk until pale and fluffy.
3) Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift into the egg mixture and fold carefully to avoid knocking out the air. I used the whisk to fold the flour in.
4) Add the milk and carefully blend.
5) Add in half of the melted butter and blend, and continue adding slowly and blending carefully.
6) Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest for between 30 to 60 minutes. No longer than 60 minutes otherwise the melted butter will harden.
7) While waiting for it to chill, preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Brush the moulds with plenty of melted butter. Dusting with a sifting of flour is not necessary as it can get claggy.
8) Fill each mould about ⅔ full, with 1 level tbsp of batter (using the measuring spoon). No need to smoothen out the top as it will spread out and flatten.
9) Bake at 177 deg C (no higher as it can burn on the outside but leave the inside raw). Baking time is 13 minutes, although watch carefully in the last 2 minutes or it can burn.
10) Use a fork to release each and leave to cool on a cooking rack. Alternatively, invert the entire madeleine tin over the cooling rack.
11) Leave to cool slightly for 3 minutes and eat immediately while the edges are still crispy. It looses its crispiness after 10 minutes (!). Best eaten with 24 hours. Store the cooled remainder in an airtight box at room temp for up to 4 days.

Recipe feedback
This has more of a hump compared to the first matcha madeleine recipe. The beating of the eggs and sugar gave the madeleines a more cake-like texture so it was spongey. However it was not moist like the first receipe. I underbaked at 12 minutes because I didn't want to burn matcha which burns easily. However, each maddy was only very slightly crispy straight out of the oven, so I might try the full 13 minutes next time.

Brownie cheesecake slice

Whether you call it brownie cheesecake or cheesecake brownie, it's the same thing. I felt like baking cheesecake but also like brownies and decided why not do both together? Surprisingly, I couldn't find many recipes that use only 1 box (8oz) of cream cheese and an 8" square pan (or equivalent 7 by 9"). I found quite a few that used a 9" square pan or 9 by 13" rectangular pan but I certainly wasn't about to run out to buy one!

Recipe from: https://www.creationsbykara.com/cheesecake-brownies/

Ingredients (makes 16)
Brownie
½ C butter, melted and cooled
1 C sugar (can reduce to ¾ C)
½ C cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
¾ C flour
¼ tsp salt
½ C chocolate chips

Cheesecake
One 8 Oz cream cheese packet, softened at room temp
¼ C sugar
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla

Method
1. Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment. Set aside. Preheat oven to 175 deg C.
Brownie
2. Pour the melted butter into a big bowl. Add the sugar and cocoa and whisk until combined.
3. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
4. Sift in the flour. Fold in the flour with the chocolate chips.
5. Reserve ⅓ C of batter and pour the rest into the lined tin. Use an offset spatula and flatten out, ensuring to reach into the corners.
Cheesecake
6. Beat the cream cheese with the sugar until no more lumps remain. You can use a beater but I simply use a spatula.
7. Add in the egg and vanilla. It will look like it split, but be patient and it will become smooth.
8. Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the brownie. Be careful not to mix the two batters but just flatten out.
9. Dollop on the reserved brownie and swirl in using a butter knife or handle of a spoon.
10. Bake at 175 deg C fo 37 minutes (any time before 35 to 40 minutes according to the recipe. At 37 minutes, my cheesecake topping had just set and the brownie was just starting to crackle.
11. Place the entire cake tin on a rack to cool for 10 minutes in order to stabilise. Then, remove the cake by the parchment and onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing up.
12. Serve fridge cold or microwave for 20 seconds till just warm.

Fresh out of the oven

13. Store in an airtight container outside for 2 days, then the remainder in the fridge for a few more days. Wrap tightly and freezes well for up to 2 months.

Recipe feedback
The cake was baked for 37 minutes which means that everything was just set. The cheesecake was still squidy. However, the brownie didn't have the signature crispy top that I like with freshly baked brownies. I still prefer brownies with peanut butter which make it very moorish but still has the crispy top when it first emerges from the oven.

Red fermented beancurd chicken (slow cooker method)

I bought red fermented beancurd some time ago and have no idea what to do with it. I used it for roast pork once and it was great but then what do I do with the rest of the bottle? Here's a recipe that looks interesting and not too far removed from the tastes that I'm used to.

Original source: http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2014/02/chicken-with-fermented-red-bean-紅腐乳-curd-and-black-fungus-姜丝云耳鸡/

I ran out of black fungus so substituted for shitake mushroom but in future, I will use both black fungus and shitake. I also added tau kee and tau pok because I like it!

Ingredients
1.5kg drumsticks
1 thumb sized ginger, sliced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
8 dried shitake, rehydrated (reserve the water)
2 tbsp sesame oil
2.5 cubes of fermented beancurd, mashed plus juice from the jar
4 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
2 dashes of white pepper
Corn flour slurry if using
½ packet tau pok
½ packet tau kee (soaked)
1-2 cups water

Method
1. Marinade chicken with the soya sauces, wine, pepper, and sesame seed oil.
2. Briefly fry the chicken until browned. Remove and set aside to fry the aromatics.
3. Return the chicken to the pan, add the oyster sauce and shitake. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove the scum and slow cook 1 to 2 hours.
4. In the last half hour, add the tau kee and tau pok.

Red bean porridge with gula melaka glutinous rice balls

This is an adaptation of the Korean red bean porridge, 팥죽. I've read some versions that use salt but I'm not a fan of something salty.

Ingredients
300g red bean paste (I used canned)
10 knotted pandan leaves
10 cups water
¼ cup lotus seeds
100g glutinous rice
5 to 6 tbsp water (use more if necessary)
300g gula melaka

Method
1. Knot the pandan leaves and add to the water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the lotus sees by soaking in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes until softened. Remove the internal bud of the lotus seed which is bitter. Add to the boiling water.
3. Add the red bean paste to the water and stir until combined. Continue to simmer on low.
4. In a separate bowl, add the flour and put in a tbsp spoon of water at a time until the flour barely comes together. You may need more than 6 tbsp if the flour is really too dry (depending on how you've stored the flour and ambient humidity too). Once you are able to gather most of the dry flour, stop and start to knead. It should all come together, if not, wet your hands and continue to knead. Knead for approximately 5 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside.
5. Pinch off little bits of dough to make balls.
6. Cut the gula melaka into cubes. Make a hole in the middle of each dumpling and insert the cubes. Close up the ball and ensure that each seam is well sealed otherwise they will burst during cooking.
7. The balls can be cooked in the soup (makes the soup more starchy) or in a separate pot of boiling water, depending on personal preference. To cook the balls, ensure that the liquid is at a rolling boil. Add the balls. They will sink. Use a spatula to stir so that they don't get stuck to the bottom. When they float, give them another 2 to 3 minutes and they're ready. If they were cooked in water, ladle them out with a sieve and add to the red bean soup.

Real pandan juice chiffon

For this recipe, I relied on my usual favourite, DMG. She has two recipes - one that uses pandan paste which I find hard to procure, and the natural method using pandan juice. I decided to use the latter recipe. She uses coconut oil and it gives the cake a lovely fragrance.
http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2017/08/pandan-chiffon-cake-pandan-juice-method/

This is another recipe by one of my favourite bloggers and very carefully explains his method. It's also for a 25cm chiffon
http://ieatishootipost.sg/how-to-make-a-pandan-chiffon-cake/
The difference is that he uses baking powder and also paste but not real pandan juice, and there is a lot more liquid in his recipe. In terms of baking tips, I didn't follow all his advice as I find that it doesn't really all work in my experience. Interestingly, he only bakes for 55 minutes at the same temp even though there's more liquid, whereas DMG bakes for 65 minutes. I have found that her cakes tended to be a bit burnt on the top and I've always needed to tent it in the last 15 minutes. I might try his recipe next time.

Ingredients
6 eggs, separated
138g sugar
70ml of pandan juice
90ml coconut milk
50ml coconut oil (or replace with a neutral tasting oil)
145g cake flour
½ tsp vanilla
pinch salt
⅛ tsp vinegar

Quite flat

Method
1. To make the juice, snip the leaves into a blender. Add just enough water to blend. Sieve into an airtight container to store overnight. The denser juice will settle at the bottom. The next day, carefully pour off the top watery layer.
2. Separate the eggs straight from the fridge.
3. In the yolks, add 30g of sugar and beat until pale. Add the coconut oil and beat until pale.
4. Add the coconut milk and salt, and combine with a whisk.
5. Sift in the flour and fold in. Set aside.
6. In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until opaque on low speed. Add the sugar in 3 batches and beat in between. Once all the sugar has been added, add the vinegar. Turn up the speed and beat until stiff peaks.
7. Add ⅓ of the meringue to the batter and gently combine with a whisk. Add the second third and even more gently combine to avoid knocking out the air.
8. Finally, pour all the batter into the remaining third of meringue and this time with a spatula, very carefully fold in by rotating the bowl in 1 direction only.
9. Drop the bowl on the table top to knock out the bigger bubbles. Pour into the pan from one side. the batter should spread.
10. Using the spatula, spread the batter evenly away from centre funnel. Run the spatula in a zigzag manner around the batter and especially around the sides of the pan and funnel. This breaks up the smaller bubbles. Drop the tin from a height several times to knock out more air bubbles.
11. Bake at 170 deg C for 65 minutes. Tent with foil in the last 15 minutes if the cake gets too brown.
12. Invert the tin over a pan so that it hangs upside down so that the cake doesn't deflate.
13. Once totally cooled, cut out the cake from the tin. Store in an airtight box.

No green color, no pandan smell or taste

Recipe feedback
- This has no taste or smell of pandan at all. I was pretty disappointed because it tasted like vanilla chiffon cake. Thank goodness I had added the coconut oil and vanilla, otherwise there would be no taste whatsoever! It also has no green colour. I think the use of pandan paste or essence is inevitable.
- This cake was a tad denser than the normal chiffon I am used to. I wonder if this had to do with the coconut oil and coconut milk. But still very very moist.

Update 11 July 20: Because the first pandan juice chiffon was so anemic, I decided to try making the pandan juice again. Snipped up 10 pandan leaves, put them in the food processor with 70ml of water, then poured it into muslin and squeezed it. I did drop in 3 drops of pandan essence just to give it a better colour.

Updated 20 Sep 20: Updated recipe here: https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2021/09/pandan-juice-and-paste-chiffon.html

Slight crack

Prettier!

 

BBQ Sio bak (Siu yuk)

Because it's CNY! I have never made this because of my fear of messy, splattered ovens, but why not start trying now for the Year of the Pig.

Explanation: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/crispy-pork-belly-siu-yuk/
: pricking of skin with fork, use of white vinegar to soften skin, cooking over water to avoid too much smoke, cutting from meat first

Method and ingredients: This recipe uses the BBQ which avoids messing up the oven, and also uses red fermented beancurd. I adapted this from their CNY recipe which uses mandarins.
http://themeatmen.sg/sio-bak-mandarin-orange-mustard/?fbclid=IwAR0o5sHrLamzWfHJdrT6T8KJ9MlHXkezHDqITVZircipkTCdUxZXVzen_RI

Method: https://www.recipetineats.com/chinese-crispy-pork-belly/
: Different ways of making the skin crispy: with pricking and without

Ingredients
1.2kg pork belly
2 mashed nam yu (red fermented beancurd)
1 tbsp five spice powder
½ tbsp rock salt (for marinade) + 1 tbsp salt (for skin)
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp rice cooking wine

Topping
1 tbsp rock salt
1 tbsp rice vinegar

Method
1. Prepare the meat. Make slits at the bottom of the meat. On top, wipe dry with kitchen towels. Either prick with a meat pricker, slash squares with a knife, or use several skewers tied together with a rubber band. Whichever method you use, ensure that you do not pierce the fat layer underneath otherwise the fat will bubble to the surface during cooking and make the skin soggy.
2. Mix the marinade ingredients in a flat pan. Rub the marinade into the meat but be careful that the marinade doesn't touch the skin. Carefully place the meat into the pan and ensure that it is well coated all over, except on the skin side. Blot the skin and sprinkle on 1 tbsp of salt. Rub into the skin.
3. Leave in the fridge to marinade for 12 to 24 hours, uncovered. It has to be uncovered so that the skin is allowed to dry out.
4. The next day, bring the pan out of the fridge and allow the meat to come to room temperature.
5. Using a foil, carefully encase the meat in the foil. Leave a 1 to 1.5cm tall border around the top of the skin, but ensure that it is tightly fitting against the meat. Pour on the 1 tbsp of rock salt to make a salt layer topping. If you encased the meat properly, the border should prevent the rock salt from falling off the sides and touching the meat. If it does, it will be very salty. Another way is to leave a 0.5cm border around the edge clear of salt so that when the meat cooks and shrinks, the salt will not fall down the sides.
6. Cook at 180 deg C for 1 hour.
7. Next, remove the meat and turn up to 230 deg C. I used the BBQ for this portion to avoid a messy splatted oven. Remove the meat from the foil casing and carefully list onto a baking rack (as pictured). Cook for 20 to 25 minutes so that the skin puffs up and becomes shatteringly crispy. Check after 15 minutes. I went for 20 minutes and it burnt. If it does, simply scrape off the burnt bits.

Opps burnt!

8. Let the meat rest for 15 minutes, uncovered. To chop up, turn it on its side and cut the meat portion first, before chopping down on the skin with a cleaver. This way, you get one entire piece and the skin doesn't break off.

After scraping away the burnt parts and chopping. So juicy!

9. Serve with mustard, or I prefer sweet sauce.

Potato and celery soup

Adapted from here. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2998693/creamy-celery-and-potato-soup
Instead of a pure vegetarian soup or the use of chicken stock, I finished up my leftover beef stock and it was splendid!

Ingredients
3 rashes of bacon, finely chopped
6 to 7 celery sticks, chopped
1 sweet potato, cubed
4 potatoes (or carrots as preferred)
½ onion, chopped
750ml beef stock
2 - 3 bay leafs
2 tbsp barley
½ cup milk, full cream (don't use skim or it may split)
1 tbsp olive oil (or butter)

Method
1) Saute the bacon in about 1 tbsp of olive oil until slightly brown and fat has rendered. Add the onions and continue to saute until transparent.
2) Add the chopped celery and saute until slightly softened, followed by the potatoes and briefly fry.
3) Pour in the beef stock, and add the bay leafs and barley.
4) Set to slow cook for anything between ½ hour (until the potatoes are soft) to 2 hours (potatoes disintegrate) according to your liking.
5) Turn off the slow cooker and pour in the milk. Stir to combine.
6) If desired, remove a portion of the soup and veg, and blend the rest with a stick blender. Add back the removed ved. (I didn't do this as I like chunky soups)
6) Serve hot with crusty bread, but I like it cold (after a night in the fridge) in summer.

IP Char siu

Also known as cha siu or char siew because this is a cantonese name, so it cannot be spelt using hanyu pinyin. A long time ago, my close staff taught me to make char siu in my pots with pork butt (twui bak) and equal parts of sugar, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, and dark soya sauce. While that gave a really nice flavour, it didn't taste anything like soya sauce pork nor char siu. I decided to look for a recipe and came across these two recipes which I've adapted for my purposes. With the pork you can also use pork shoulder or even pork belly, depending on how fatty you like the pork. (https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/roasted-pork-belly-with-honey/)

Ingredients list: This link tastes the most authentic and because the other link uses char siu sauce. Why would I want to make char siu sauce from scratch if I already have the pre-made version?
http://www.curiousnut.com/chinese-bbq-pork-char-siu/

Method: This link uses IP method which is my preference to cooking in the oven and splattering everywhere and basting (and basting and basting), although this method is two-step ie cook in IP then grill in oven.
https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/char-siu-chinese-bbq-pork-pressure-cooker/

Ingredients
500g of pork butt
2 tbsp garlic, finely minced
3 tbsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp honey (or maltose)
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp juice of red fermented beancurd (nam yu)
2 tbsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar (reduced from 5)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp five spice powder
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp salt (optional, depends on how salty the other sauces are, which depend on the brands used)
1 cup (250ml) of water
Glaze
2 tbsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp honey

Method
1. Prepare the pork by slicing down the centre until it makes 2 long strips of pork. If preferred, poke holes in the meat for the marinade to penetrate. Mix the marinate and marinate the pork in the mixture for min 2 hours or best overnight, up to 2 days.
2. Drain the marinade and pour into the bottom of the IP. Add the cup of water and stir until combined. Try to remove as much of the marinade from the pork and especially the garlic pieces or these will burn later on.
3. Place the pork in a steam basket. Cook on high pressure for 18 minutes, and natural release for 12 minutes.
4. Mix the glaze. Brush onto the pork.
5. Preheat to 230 deg C or Grill function. Place pork on a grilling rack (over a roasting tin lined with foil for easy clean up) and grill for 4 to 6 minutes per side (I did 5 min). Watch like a hawk. Once the surface turns slightly charred from the sugars in the honey and soya sauce, flip the pork or remove from the oven as necessary.
6. Serve chopped up with rice with the cooked gravy, or use in other meals e.g. wanton mee, char siu buns, fried rice, etc.

Beauties after grilling

Looks a bit dry but tasted ok after drizzling on the gravy

Recipe feedback
1. The meat came out a bit dry but looked correct. I wonder if it's the twui bak (pork butt) which was used instead of pork shoulder. I also recall that some char siu that I've eaten was very dry but because it was sliced wafer thin, you couldn't really tell. It might also be because I sliced it across the grain rather than with the grain, or because it was overcooked in the IP (I added an extra minute because one slab was really thick). I might try pork shoulder in future just for a comparison.
2. BK added that he'd like it sweeter and I did reduce the brown sugar from 5 to 3 tbsp, however, when I tasted the gravy, it tasted correct to me. The only thing is that it needs to be reduced like a sauce, which I was in too much of a rush for time to do.

Siew mai (Shumai)

I have long thought that siewmai were very difficult to make until I watched a few videos. It's quite easy to wrap, just hold hand in a cupping motion and push the filling in. The wrapper pleats itself. The trick comes in flattening the bottom on a flat surface, then using your thumb and ring finger to create a waist near the top of the dumpling. This uses considerably more filling (probably about 1.5 to 2x more) than I anticipated given my experience with other dumplings, so I had under-estimated the amount of filling needed.

This is the best link for wrapping siewmai that I could find: https://www.theburningkitchen.com/shrimp-and-pork-dumpling-siew-mai/

Ingredients (makes 20)
500g minced pork
100g dried black cloud fungus
20 prawns, shelled and deveined and chopped into chunks
4 sliced small to medium carrots
Enough frozen peas for decoration
2 tsp salt
2 tsp soya sauce
Dash of pepper
1 tbsp chinese rice wine
2 tsp minced garlic

Method
1. Soak the cloud fungus. While waiting, mix the minced pork and prawns. Marinate with soya sauce, pepper, rice wine, and minced garlic. Leave to marinate for at least an hour.
2. Drain the cloud fungus and squeeze out any excess water. Slice into short strips.
3. Prepare the carrots by slicing into rounds. Line a steamer with a parchment with holes cut out. Place the carrot rounds on top of the parchment, using the carrots as a lining so that the dumplings don't stick together.
4. When prepared to wrap, mix in the cloud fungus. Wrap each siew mai as described above and place the wrapped siew mai into the steam on top of the carrot rounds.
5. Bring a steamer to a rolling boil and steam the dumplings (about 10 to 12 each time) for 10 minutes.
6. Serve hot with sweet chilli sauce or sambal as desired.

Matcha ice cream

I've made ice cream on several occasions now. I could never quite get the recipe for the basic recipe right until I read a new recipe.

https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/homemade-ice-cream-party/

The main difference is when the condensed milk is added, whether it is beaten, and also the temp. Gemma put the condensed milk in the fridge and also beat the double cream initially until stiff peaks. I've also read in another of her recipes that she beat them until soft peaks before adding in the condensed milk and then continued to beat till stiff peaks, which is the method I used. I'm always petrified of over beating cream, and then it becomes butter! Below, I've adapted for matcha which I happen to have a tin lying around and need to use up.

Ingredients
1 tin of condensed milk, leave in the fridge overnight
600ml of double cream, suitable for whipping
2 tbsp culinary grade matcha powder
3 to 4 tbsp of hot (not boiling!) water, just enough to make into a paste
2 tbsp of icing sugar

Method
1. In a food processor or mixer/beater, add the chilled double cream. Beat until soft peaks.
2. Pour in the cold double cream and beat until stiff peaks.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the matcha powder and hot water into a smooth paste. To ensure that there are no lumps, you might want to sift the matcha adding the water.
4. Add the sugar to the matcha paste and combine until no lumps remain.
5. Pour the cream mixture into the mixing bowl and fold in carefully until no streaks remain.
6. Transfer to a freezable container (plastic or metal but no glass!) and freeze for at least 6 hours but best overnight.

IP Nasi Chicken Biryani

Easy recipe last posted here: https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2018/11/ip-nasi-biranyi.html

Found another recipe which seems to have more flavour than the Ministry of Curry because it also fries the dry spices for the rice but I still prefer the method from MoC. The marinade is mostly the same but the difference is in the rice and dry spices. (quantities have been adapted for 1.2 to 1.5 kg of chicken)

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chicken-biryani-in-pressure-cooker/

Ingredients
8 to 12 pieces of chicken drumstick

Marinade
1 tbsp ginger grated
1 tbsp garlic grated
2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp red chilli powder
¾ cup yoghurt (or about 6 tbsp)
2 tsp salt (if required)

Whole dry spices
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom
4 to 6 cloves
1 inch cinnamon
1 star anise
¾ caraway seeds

Pot
3 cups basmati
3 cups of water or thin coconut milk
3 tbsp ghee or oil
1 large onion, sliced
½ cup mint, chopped
1 green chilli, slit
6 tbsp yoghurt
¾ salt to sprinkle in water
1.5 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp fried onion (optional)

Served with tomato raita

Method
1) Marinade chicken for at least 1 hour. Soak rice for 30 minutes.
2) Heat the oil and fry whatever dry spices you have. Fry the onion until light brown.
3) Add the chicken and fry for 5 minutes. Evaporate excess water.
4) Add the additional ingredients into the pot (mint, chilli, yoghurt, garam masala). Deglaze the pot with 1C of water to prevent burning later on.
5) Layer. Ensure the chicken is at the bottom. Spread rice over the chicken (and avoid letting the rice fall to the bottom of the pan where it will burn)
6) Pour 2 cups down the sides of the pot. Pour the remaining cup on top of the rice. Level if necessary.
7) Sprinkle on the mint and fried onions.
8) Set on manual for 10 minutes, natural release for 5 minutes.
9) Fluff up the rice. Serve from the bottom layer. Serve with raita and flat breads.

Recipe feedback
This is much more tasty than the previous recipe and I learnt a very important lesson: that c cup of water per cup of rice is sufficient as far as this recipe goes. In a pressure cooker and also with the addition of chicken, a lot less water is needed to cook the rice than it would in a normal rice cooker or even microwave rice cooker. I know the writer of this recipe did say that basmati esp old rice needs less water than other rice so it does seem true. I will only really know when I cook basmati in the microwave to compare with how I cook with Jasmine.

Otherwise, the recipe is great and the same tricks from the last recipe applies i.e. must deglaze pan so the bottom won't burn, pile rice only on to of the chicken so the rice doesn't burn, and finally, natural release for only 5 minutes.